Noble and Futile Kakashi
by killswitchtheory
Summary: Co-written by AmberRobinson, our try at depth, meaning, and retrospect. Kakashi reflects back on a few aspects of his life as he is trapped in a canyon. M to be safe. A very mild M.


Hey folks! I haven't written anything in months because of my school schedule, and I know positively everyone is waiting for the update on my other story. Truthfully, I think I'm done with "An Unexpected Affair." It just doesn't get me going like it used to. Like it NEEDS to for me to write it well, and personally, I'd rather write something and cut my losses than squeeze out some literature turds and call them chapters.  
Anywhore!  
I got the idea for this shot a long time ago, probably in the summer, and it might be (MIGHT) one of the deepest things I'll ever come to write. This is how I think Kakashi's story will end. In my mind the only way his story could satisfactorily end. Maybe if people love this story I can get writing again! I kind of have an idea. Very rough but pretty massive. If anyone would like to help me, that'd be great. They can even have most of the credit, I don't mind. Haha.  
I don't own Naruto. I don't own a graphing calculator either...  
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_Breathe in.  
Hold.  
Breathe out.  
Good. I didn't feel anything that time. Again while I still have time.  
Breathe in.  
Hold  
Breathe o-_  
"Ah! Damn it."  
He reached quickly below his right ribcage. Opening the tear in his vest and jump suit, he looked at the opening that decorated his form. Spreading the wound with his fingers, he cringed again.  
_It's deep. Fuck. I'm pretty far out. Losing a lot of blood.__  
_He ran his hand through his long gray hair and breathed heavily, ignoring the pain each breath brought. He couldn't see a way out of this in time. The narrow canyon he found himself stuck in provided him with nothing but a dead end. His intent was to draw his enemies through this narrow pass, and slow them down. Instead, he was hit by a throwing knife and met with a dead end.  
_Breathe in.  
Focus.  
Hold._

He remembered his father. The brave and honorable Sakumo, the White Fang. How he used to spend hours dreaming of becoming as strong and skilled as his infamous father. Always practicing, nothing but the best was expected of Sakumo's son. Sakumo's son, that was what he was known as. Hiding in his father's shadow. He needed to break out and make a name for himself. Get a name that ninjas throughout the world would know. Be as infamous as the White Fang. After Sakumo's death, however, things changed. He could no longer want to be like his father. A man whom sacrificed his mission for his teammates was dishonored, leaving a boy who only wanted to be like his father, broken and a stickler for the rules.

_Breathe out.  
An outlier_, he noticed. _He doesn't know that I know. Wait.  
Breathe in.  
Hold.  
Wait.  
_Kakashi threw a two pronged shuriken and knocked the bow out of the outlier's hands. Staggered, the outlier fell from atop the cliff wall, striking the opposite side wickedly before hitting the ground with an unforgiving crack.  
_Even with half of me spurting onto the ground, I'm pretty good,_ he thought. _Hell, maybe even good enough to get myself out of this.  
Breathe in.  
Hold._

He thought of his team. Team Minato.

Obito, his best friend, the one who gifted Kakashi his sharingan. Obito and Kakashi was a sad thought. The two of them drifting apart as the years went. It didn't help that the object of his affection had feelings for Kakashi.

Rin, another sad thought. If only that mission with the hidden mist ninja was a little different, she could have been spared. Every time he thought of her he was filled with regret.

Minato came into his mind after Rin. Minato proved to be an outstanding ninja. A man he chose to replace his father and Kakashi idolized his squad leader. Put him on a high pedestal, and felt such pride when he was made team leader. The beginnings of his time with his squad were the best, before all the problems and heartache came about.

_Breathe out._  
He would stand, resolute, surrounded by ground adorned with his own blood. He would see them coming, one by one over their outlier he had taken out earlier, their faces showing only a strong resolve and unwarranted, blind hatred. They would focus on Kakashi. They would run directly towards him. Utilizing what chakra he had left, he would summon the familiar chirping noise people had come to associate with him, and would throw it at the first few rows of the runners. It would cut 6 or seven of them in half and stun the next few behind them, not enough to stop the further. They would push the stunned to the ground and trample them obliviously, moving as an angry mass with only one purpose.  
_Breathe in.  
Quickly.  
Hold.  
_He would run at them, kunai drawn, his gumption waning. He knew it was fruitless. He knew it was in vain. So he would know this, so he would sigh. And he would fight as much as he could, though he saw no way out of it.  
_Breathe out._  
_That's how this is going to play out when they finally catch up. No chance for me.  
_He laughed.  
_Oddly satisfying. To know the end is a kind of blessing.  
Breathe in.  
Once more._

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. His squad seven. He taught them the importance of staying true to their teammates. Made sure they never abandoned each other. He watched them all grow, not just physically, but in their souls.

Sasuke, he saw so much of himself in that one. If only he could have saved him from Orochimaru's grasp.

Sakura, the hot headed girl with incredible chakra control. She trained with the hokage and grew into an amazing medical ninja with tremendous power, her short temper never leaving her.

Then there was Naruto. That knuckle-head who grew into the promising nin he always stated he would become. He grew the most out of the three. From the bottom of the barrel, Naruto rose to become a shinobi with great strength, determination, and heart. All he could feel when he thought of team seven was a swell of pride.

They burst through. The blind anger carrying them over their fallen comrade, just as Kakashi knew it would. He mustered up his chakra and produced the jutsu he knew he had to, producing the effect he knew it would.  
_And that_, he thought with finality, _is my legacy. Not how I die in this trenched canyon, but those who I've led, who I've taught, and who I've fought beside. They'll remember me more. With more respect than anger or anguish. They'll recognize that I had no choice.  
I love you guys.  
Breathe out._  
He ran.

Let me know what you thought. Posting this sometime in May, I wrote the actual sequence of live action in mid-November. Shout out to my co-author, AmberRobinson, who wrote all of the flashback sequences! Check that out for sure!

From Killswitchtheory,

Jeremy spoke in class today.


End file.
